Verchenova’s round wasn’t just the lowest score this week on the Olympic Golf Course at Reserva de Marapendi, but it bettered the low 63 that had been recorded by Marcus Fraser in the men’s event last week to set a new course record.
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Inbee Park reflects on the “unreal” experience of winning a gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Inbee Park was in the 16th fairway, only 50 yards from the hole, and couldn’t imagine a worse spot to be.
Park, 28, has missed much of the LPGA Tour with a thumb injury, but played like she’d never missed a beat.
Lee fired a 67 that included six birdies in the final 14 holes, however the 20-year-old will rue two missed birdie putts on 16 and 17 that effectively ruled her out of medal contention.
Seiyoung Kim of South Korea also shot a 66. There was nothing guaranteed because I hadn’t played well this season. “I’m so honored to represent my country”. She shot a five-under par 66 on the final day, ending the tournament at sixteen under par. Sometimes people get carried away and say you “lost” to someone but, no matter the result, you won.
Ko was happy with her silver after a modest first two days and added her belief that the Olympic tournament will boost the sport. It took the final threesome just over 5 1/2 hours to complete the opening round.
She then stumbled on the tenth, hitting her tee shot into the water en route to a bogey.
“I had a lot of attention coming into this wee”, she said. Nagl and Victoria Lovelady, the two Brazilians in the 60-player field, each shot 79. Women’s golf was last played in the Olympics in 1900 in Paris while men’s golf was last played in 1904 in St. Louis.
South Korea has been the dominant nation in women’s golf, and Park brought home the biggest prize. Park held the lead after Round 2 and 3 and was able to finish off the victory on Saturday.
“It is something I have always been dreaming about and I can’t believe it has come true”. “They’re going to pop in there, you can’t ignore it”, she said. “It is a really hard one”.
Just as hard as the 30 miles per hour gusts was seeing the name of Lydia Ko right behind her. “It’s a huge honour and I think it could be the highlight of my golfing career”. “So I think it’s great”.
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Earlier this year, she became the youngest person to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. For a moment on Saturday, things got a bit dicey when Park bogeyed the 10th hole to see her lead shrink to 3 shots. She took time off to recover, and to pour everything into being ready for the Olympics. Park felt good in practice and carried that to the course, looking much like the player who has won seven majors. Not many would have expected it to be Park. “My celebration was like as if I won the gold”, the 19-year-old said.
